Kabaddi is one of the most successful games in India. Vivo Pro Kabaddi league just lifted the spirit of this game in the most sport-loving country. Eventually, every kabaddi fan is interested to know about the top 10 kabaddi players in the world. But the thing is, kabaddi is not spread all around the globe like other popular sports, cricket, and football. It leads to less number of international kabaddi matches. However, the pro kabaddi league brings all action to fans.
Interestingly, the pro kabaddi league has more popularity than the kabaddi world cup. So the list of the top 10 kabaddi players in the world is adjusted based on the player’s performance in the pro kabaddi league. Let’s begin this sparking list.
Top 10 Kabaddi Players In The World
10. Meraj Sheykh (Iran)
The Irani all-rounder is one of the most successful foreign players in pro kabaddi. Most importantly, he is a foreign kabaddi player who gets limelight in this cash-rich league. He is also captain of the Iran Kabaddi team, who took his team into the 2016 kabaddi world cup finals. Meraj Sheykh played a massive role in the Irani kabaddi team to become the second most successful team in the international kabaddi world. In PKL, he became a crisis man for his teams. Whenever his team struggles, Meraj shows up himself and always scores the most critical points.
He played six seasons of pro kabaddi for Telugu Titans and Dabang Delhi and scored 404 points. But unfortunately, Meraj Sheykh won’t be part of the 2021 pro kabaddi league because of injury. He did not even make himself into this year’s auction. However, Meraj Sheykh was one of the versatile kabaddi players who made the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
9. Anup Kumar (India)
Probably he is the best player for the Indian kabaddi team. Anup Kumar won two gold medals for India in the 2010 and 2014 Asian games, respectively. He also won the gold medal for India 2016 south Asian games. Anup Kumar was the captain of the Indian kabaddi team during the 2016 kabaddi world cup, where India beat Iran in the final and lifted the trophy. He served a lot of years as a captain of the Indian kabaddi team. Anup Kumar is well known for his toe touches. Most importantly, he quickly takes the bouns point when the opponent team has six or more defenders on the mat.
Anup Kumar is also known as “Bonus Ka Badshah” in the pro kabaddi league for his unique skill of toe toches. In PKL season 2, he led his franchise, U Mumba, to win the trophy for the first time. Eventually, Anup Kumar lost his form in PKL and announced his retirement on 19 December 2018. He almost played 15 years in the sport. Now he is operating as the franchise coach in the pro kabaddi league known as Puneri Paltan. However, Anup Kumar was one of the legendary kabaddi players who made the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
8. Manjeet Chhillar (India)
A name that doesn’t need an introduction. Manjeet Chillar was one of the best all-rounders in the game. His power of defending and raiding made him a one-man army. Especially opponent raiders were scared when Manjeet was defending on his left cover position. He is the leading defender in the pro kabaddi league with a mammoth of 339 tackle points.
Manjeet Chhillar is also a member of the 2016 world cup winning kabaddi team. He made a massive contribution to the defensive unit. In PKL season 2, Manjeet Chhillar was the captain of the Bengaluru Bulls team. He led his team into the finals of that particular season. He was bought by Dabang Delhi in PKL 2021 auction and is ready to show his power again. With his all round ability, Manjeet has created many records to be in 8th place in the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
7. Fazel Atrachali (Iran)
Fazel Atrachali was one of the best defenders of the game. He is mainly known for his magical ankle holds and powerful blocks. The Irani defender has won the “Best Defender” award twice in the pro kabaddi league in 2016 and 2019. He is also a member of the 2015 PKL champions U Mumba team and 2016 champions Patna Pirates team. Fazel has 317 tackle points on his name in the history of the pro kabaddi league, which was third-most by a defender.
At present, Fazel Atrachali is the captain of U Mumba as well as his national team Iran. He also led his national team to win a gold medal in the 2018 Asian games. Fazel Atrachali was the first foreign player to earn more than one crore rupee of remuneration in the history of the pro kabaddi league. In 2021 PKL U Mubma has retained him with an amount of 1.21 crore, which was the highest among all retained players. With his unique defense skill, Fazel Atrachali has made it into 7th place in the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
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6. Sandeep Narwal (India)
He is one of the best all-rounders in the game of kabaddi. Sandeep Narwal was crowned as the beast in the right corner who just smashed his opponents with his powerful blocks. He was a member of the 2016 kabaddi world cup winning team and the gold medalist in the 2016 South Asian games. Sandeep Narwal played for Patna Pirates in the first three seasons of the pro kabaddi league and made his mark.
He placed at the fourth spot in the leading defenders’ list of PKL with 310 tackle points. The Haryana lad was a key member of Patna Pirates when they lifted the trophy for the first time in 3rd season of PKL. In the 2021 Pro Kabaddi Auction, Dabang Delhi bought him for a massive amount of 60 lakhs. With his dual skill on the mat, Sandeep Narwal can be a match-winner on his given day. With his aggressive nature and bold body language, Sandeep Narwal made it into 6th place in the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
5. Ajay Thakur (India)
He is the legend of Indian kabaddi who won both Padma Shri and Arjuna awards for his numerous contributions to Indian kabaddi. Ajay Thakur was the best raider in the 2016 world cup with 68 points on his name. Most important, his super 10 in the final against Iran is an absolute game-changer. Ajay Thakur won gold medals in 2007, and 2013 Asian indoor games also won gold medals for India 2014 Asian games and the 2017 Asian kabaddi championship.
Ajay Thakur has humongous success ib the pro kabaddi league also. He bagged a total of 790 raid points in PKL history to become the 4th highest point-getter in PKL. Ajay Thakur is known for his running hand touches and frog jump over the defenders who raids in the left corner. With his height and skill, Thakur easily scores points by touching defenders. I love his heroics in the 2016 world cup finals, and that helps him stand in 5th place on the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
4. Deepak Niwas Hooda (India)
Deepak is the most successful all-rounder of the pro kabaddi league. There are 943 points on his name in the league, which attains him as a number one all-rounder in the league’s history. Initially, he played for Telugu Titans and proved himself, and he is playing for season one champions Jaipur Pink Panthers. He also captained the former PKL Champions couple of times. Deepak is, moreover, raiding all-rounder and occasionally does defense whenever his team needs it.
Apart from the pro kabaddi league, he is also one of the successful players for the Indian kabaddi team and domestic teams. Deepak is a member of the 2016 kabaddi winning world cup team also a part of the 2016 and 2019 gold medal-winning team in the South Asian Games. He also won a gold medal in the 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters, which was held in Dubai. Deepak Niwas Hooda was one of the clever kabaddi players who made the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
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3. Rahul Chaudhari (India)
Rahul was one of the most decorated superstars in this high voltage game. He is also known as the poster boy of the pro kabaddi. In PKL season one, he scored 151 points for Telugu Titans, the second-highest points in that particular season. He captained the Telugu Titans team in a couple of seasons but failed to take them to the finals. Rahul is well known for his running hand toches. He can raid in both the corners and moves swiftly from one corner to another corner with ease.
Rahul Chaudhari scored 1014 points in the pro kabaddi league, second-most by a player in pro kabaddi history. He is also the only second player to cross 1000 points in this colorful league. Rahul has 955 raid points on his name, making him the second most successful raider in PKL history. The Rahul Showman Chaudhari is also part 2016 world cup winning team. He has unique raiding skills. That’s why he earned 3rd place in the list of the top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
2. Pawan Kumar Sehrawat (India)
He was known as the high flyer of the pro kabaddi league. Once, Pawan jumped about five and a half feet over a defender on the mat. He started his PKL career on a low note, didn’t get too many chances to play the game. But he raised his standard in PKL season 6, where has he scored 271 raids points. He led the Bengaluru Bulls team with his super raiding power to lift the trophy for the first time. Pawan Kumar Sehrawat scored 346 raids points in season 7 and almost broke the most raid points in a single season.
Overall he scored 716 points in just 80 matches to stand as the 6th highest points player in the pro kabaddi league. He created the record of most raid points in a single match when he scored a mammoth of 39 raid points against Haryana Steelers in 2019. Pawan was a member 2019 South Asian Games gold medal-winning team. He is scoring points at such an incredible pace. He will break many records to become an all-time best raider. Pawan was one of the emerging kabaddi players who made the list of top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
1. Pardeep Narwal (India)
He was the youngest legend of the kabaddi who shook the kabaddi world with his unique skill Dubki. Pardeep has scored tons of points in PKL as well as domestic level. He was a member of the 2016 world cup winning team and the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2017 team. He also won a gold medal in the 2019 South Asian Games. In PKL, Pardeep has created lots of records. Once, he scored 8 points in a single raid against Haryana Steelers and shocked the kabaddi world.
Pardeep scored the most raid points in PKL history, and only raiders scored more than 1000 raid points. In season 5, he is in god-level form, scored a mammoth of 369 raid points, which was the most by a raider in a single PKL season. Pardeep started his journey with Patna Pirates in season 3 and made his team a champion in three consecutive seasons.
Once upon a time, he was a one-man army for Patna Pirates. Pardeep created an all-time most expensive player in PKL auction history. In 2021, the auction UP Yodha team bought him with a whopping amount of 1.65 crores. There is no doubt that he is the number one player in the list of the top 10 kabaddi players in the world.
